Middle & North Sisters!
- Samuel Emigrant
- Sep 13, 2018
- 3 min read
Day 10, the heart of the Oregon Cascades in Three Sisters Wilderness. Having passed South Sister, today I would pass the Middle and North Sister. Today would also be my longest day of the entire trip at 17 miles and 12 hours on the trail when my original plan was either 9 or 13 miles.
This day started like most days, climbing. However I was quickly rewarded with a deer encounter (Pic 2) and then after hiking through a burned out section of forest (Pic 3) and a beautiful wild flower meadow (Pic 4 & 5) I get my first of many spectacular views of Middle Sister (Pic 1 & 6).
As I continue to hike I am constantly viewing Middle Sister (Pics 7, 8, 10, 12 & 14) as well as peaks, The Husband (Pic 9 & 11), Mt Washington and Mt Jefferson in the distance (Pic 13), and finally North Sister (Pic 15) in the distance just before entering the Obsidian Limited Entry Area. Simply unbelievable scenery!
One of my planned camp sites was just short of the Obsidian Limited Entry Area (Pic 16). You can pass through on the PCT but you can't venture off the trail or camp inside the area without a special permit. I didn't have one. Because I was feeling good, I decided I would hike through the area to my second camp site choice, Sawyers Bar, 1.5 miles past the northern boundary for a total of 12.8 miles on the day. If you haven't seen Obsidian or "Natures Glass", it is pitch black and shiny and it's everywhere you look in the Obsidian Limited Entry area. I met a young dad, Dave, and his 14 year old son Nick at Obsidian Falls (Pic 17 & 18). They had a 9 month old dog named Tahoe. They would put booties on Tahoe's feet whenever walking on Obsidian or Lava to spare him from cuts. There was so much obsidian, you were literally walking on glass (Pic 20 & 21). This only lasted for about 1.5 miles of the 2 mile stretch.
I caught up with Dave and Nick again at Sawyer's Bar and we had a nice conversation. I was planning to stay here for the night and I expected the ladies from Boise to catch up with me before they moved on. They had offered to give me a ride down into the town of Sisters if I needed one. Well, Dave and Nick moved on but Tahoe wanted to stay with me. I have that effect on dogs so I had to shoo him away. The Honeymooners caught up with me but they moved on as well. Unfortunately Sawyer's Bar was dry and there was a spring on the other side of the next pass that the Honeymooners were heading to tonight. I was well rested by this time and although Boise hadn't arrived, I decided to tackle the upcoming lava field up and over Opie Dildock Pass, another couple of miles.
Holy Moly, is that where I'm headed over the next few days? See Mt Washington, Three Fingered Jack and Mt Jefferson (Pic 25-27) Have you ever hiked on lava? It's like hiking on top of jagged golf balls, baseballs, and softballs all jumbled up together. I had a bit of a tough hike late in the day up switchbacks and then up and over the pass to the back side of North Sister (Pic 28-30). Those two hikers way up there are the Honeymooner's (Pic 29) but I couldn't believe the trail went straight up through that climb. We made it to the Minnie Scott Spring where water just bubbled up out of the rocks. The Honeymooners decided to stay, but now having water, I decided to head downhill. Leaving North Sister and the Opie Dildock Pass behind (Pic 30 & 31), I caught up with Dave and Nick in the meadow below (Pic 31). We made a tough hike up through another lava field and up and around Yapoah Crater (Pic 32 & 33). I dropped my pack and set up camp on a sandy bar next to a lava wall at 17 miles, just short of South Mathieu Lake. Dave and Nick moved on to the lake. I had literally hit the wall and was well ahead of schedule. Day 10 is complete, tomorrow I officially pass halfway to Mt Hood!
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